The National Merit Scholarship Corporation awarded senior Surbhi Agrawal with a corporate-sponsored National Merit Scholarship. Agrawal is one of nine students in MCPS and 20 corporate-sponsored scholars in Maryland to receive the scholarship.Defense contractor Northrop Grumman will give Agrawal $2,500 for each year she attends college. Agrawal plans to study biology and medicine at the University of Pennsylvania.

“Winning this scholarship makes me really excited,” she said. “College is really expensive nowadays. I’m really happy that I’m being offered help from somewhere.”

Typically, the corporation awards students with a scholarship if  they are interested in the company’s field of work, live in a community the company serves or have parents who work for the company.

Agrawal’s mother works for Northrop Grumman.

“Companies where our parents work, those companies want to promote the education of their employees’ children,” Agrawal said.

Additional scholarships from Northrop Grumman will continue to be announced through July.